Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The base of this bar is a shortbread cookie with a hint of coffee and cinnamon followed by a layer of melted chocolate and a sprinkle of caramels on top. Instead of buying Heath bars (which aren't typically available in Canada although The Candy Store in Ottawa imports them) or Skor bars, I made my own caramels and pulverized them in my food processor.

One of the best take aways from this recipe was lining the pan with aluminum foil. The liner makes it easy to remove the cookie base from the pan and put it on a cutting board saving your nice pan from the sharp edges of your knife.

The most efficient way to line the pan is to tear off a large piece of aluminum foil, turn the pan over, mold the foil against the pan, and square the corners (think hospital corners on a bed), then lift the foil against the pan, and carefully slip it into the pan. It won't fit perfectly — it never does — but you can quickly press it into shape. Once it's coaxed into place, butter the foil, a job best done with a pastry brush slathered with softened butter.

Wow, I bet that making your own caramel really took these to the next level! Although I do love some heath. I agree -- the foil trick was a great one; I am likely to use it with many bar cookies/brownies going forward. Your crunch bars look amazing!

I love making caramels. What a great idea. I bet a caramel-y layer went just as well as a toffee layer.(And I liked the foil tip, too, and will use it again in the future. I have two 9x13 pans, both which have scar marks from cutting brownies/bar recipes)

Shari - thanks for updating my blog! LOVE your bars! I especially like the clear, dotted background -very nice effect! They look fantastic. I wish I had stores here that sold blocks of the "good chocolate" like I can tell you use - I usually have to order them online. Very nicely done!

Love the homemade caramels - especially love that you, not me, made them. I'm petrified of molten sugar! The foil was cool, but I couldn't figure out why Dorie wanted us to cut the bars without cutting the foil. It wasn't like we were going to reuse it. Nancy